Author and columnist Mary Beth Bonacci to speak at St. Thomas Feb. 15

Author, columnist and speaker Mary Beth Bonacci will discuss “Real Love in the College Years” in a talk at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 15, in the auditorium of O’Shaughnessy Educational Center.

Free and open to the public, the talk is sponsored by the University of St. Thomas Center for Catholic Studies.

Bonacci speaks to people around the country and around the world about relationships, chastity, marriage, sex and finding honest love.

She is the author of two books: Real Love: Mary Beth Bonacci Answers Your Questions on Dating, Marriage and the Real Meaning of Sex and We’re on a Mission From God: The Generation X Guide to John Paul II, the Catholic Church and the Real Meaning of Life.

In addition to her books, she writes a syndicated Catholic newspaper column, founded VOICE magazine, maintains a Web site at www.reallove.net and has produced a number of videos. Her high school video series and study guide, Sex and Love: What’s a Teenager to Do? won the 1996 Crown Award for Best Youth Curriculum.

Bonacci was the keynote speaker at the Papal Visit Youth Rally in St. Louis a year ago, and spoke to 75,000 teen-agers at World Youth Day in Denver in 1993. From 1992 to 1998 she delivered the keynote addresses at annual youth rallies at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio.

She holds a bachelor’s in communication from the University of San Francisco and a master’s in the theology of marriage and family from the John Paul II Institute at Lateran University. She also received an honorary doctorate from the Franciscan University of Steubenville.

For more information on Bonacci’s talk, call the Center for Catholic Studies at (651) 962-5700.